[Advice] Where to start...

UnknownUser

Hi all,

I'm new to Godot and overall coding of a videogame. I'm a senior programmer along being a video gamer a TRPG master and etc. I decide to try and realise my videogame idea and I decide Godot to be the right tool.

I'm after general advices on where to start with the actual project implementation.

Base idea A 2D RPG side scroller with a tactical, turn based, combat system. The RPG system will be very stat based and have a number of skills (combat and non-combat related).

Questions Where should I start: From the Combat system? Character stats? Graphics assets? General gameplay (movements and such)? * Something else?

Thanks for the help :)

Megalomaniak

You can start with any one of those, I'd probably start by prototyping each of them in a separate 'demo' project first and only bring them together later. Except for the graphical assets, those I'd leave last.

JoshChristiane

For my games I've always begun with the "world" first, then prototyping the assets with mechanics. The reason being because a game IS graphics. If you think about it, all a game really is when you boil it down is coloured pixels on a screen moving. It doesn't make much sense to program a combat mechanic without any actual animated assets performing those mechanics. So for example I'd build two characters that have some basic animations, maybe they aren't fully fleshed out yet, but the basic concept is there. Then I can build a camera script around one of those lead characters, put in the actual fighting mechanics, start building interactions between the character I was fighting and the AI script or whatever for the second fighting character, etc. You get my point. Everything in a game happens around the world and the lead character/camera, it makes prototyping MUCH faster if you just build those two first, even if they're not "final" versions, you can revise stuff later.

So yeah, that's just my opinion, build some lead characters with some basic gameplay first, then start building the game mechanics around that, then later build the final versions of assets and before you know it you'll have a final finished game.

Megalomaniak

Nah, a game is first and foremost the mechanics, graphics could be anything but it would still function as a game. If all you have is graphics then it's a very interesting art project but not really a game. Ultimately though, it really doesn't matter where you start if you are a generalist/all-in-one.

But if you are a programmer then art is probably not the place to start. Rather commission the work and develop the logic of the game mechanics.

TwistedTwigleg

I generally start my games with the visuals first, though I would not necessarily recommend this approach. It has the advantage of having nice looking assets at the start, but until you start developing, you are not going to necessarily know what you need or not. This can lead to wasted time on assets not used, assets needing reworking, etc. Generally the reason I start on visuals first is time, especially in game jams or time-constrained projects, as often I can quickly hammer out something and "make it work" with the game mechanics. Generally this works out okay, as over time I have gotten a better idea of what I may need, but there are times where I have to... get creative. One reason I think this has worked for me is that I'm a bit of a jack-of-all trades, with a bent towards programming and 3D.

My advice to anyone looking to start a new project is this: Play to your strengths! Whatever you feel is your strength of what you like doing, try to make your project shine using that. Not only will it potentially help the game stand out, but you will likely enjoy the process more and that is important! Motivation is one of the biggest reasons I have seen that projects stall. With that in mind, I would not recommend doing the inverse: leaving the parts you do not feel confident with to last. Leaving those parts to last will make it that much harder to finish the project, in my opinion, as they will continue to grow as other parts of the game progress. I feel its better to try and strike a balance between working on the parts you like and working on the parts you are not as confident on.

That's just my two cents though. :smile: